Second-highest pass road in Colorado, linking Ouray and Telluride. Imogene Pass is a moderate 11.6-mile off-road trail in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado, between Ouray and Telluride, topping out at 13,114 ft. It is usually open July to September.
Know before you go
- Sneffels and the Revenue Mine → · Ghost townMile 0.0
Sneffels was a mining town on the road to Yankee Boy Basin, named after nearby Mount Sneffels.
- Camp Bird Mine → · MineMile 1.0
The Camp Bird Mine is a famous gold mine between Ouray and Telluride.
- Fort Peabody → · Historic siteMile 5.1
Fort Peabody is a small stone sentry post on the ridge just above Imogene Pass, at 13,365 feet.
- Imogene Pass · 13,114 ftMile 5.2
- Tomboy → · Ghost townMile 7.0
Tomboy is a ghost town in Savage Basin, about 2 miles east of Telluride, at 11,509 feet.
- Ends in TellurideMile 11.6
Side-by-sides and other off-highway vehicles aren't allowed on Telluride town streets. Plan to trailer out or turn around.
How to get there
- DirectionsStart (mile 0)Imogene Pass Road TrailheadGPS 37.97534, -107.74532
- DirectionsEnd (mile 11.6)Imogene Pass Road TrailheadGPS 37.93937, -107.80651
Side-by-sides can't be ridden on Ouray town streets, so unload south of town. Riders report plenty of room to stage along Camp Bird Road, and unlicensed vehicles should start from this Ouray side. Don't plan to ride into Telluride: trailer out from the Telluride trailhead or ride back over the pass.
History
Imogene Pass crosses a 13,114-foot ridge between Ouray and Telluride, and it is the highest pass in the San Juan Mountains. From Ouray the road leaves the Yankee Boy Basin road above the Camp Bird Mine and climbs through Imogene Basin. From Telluride it climbs past the ghost town of Tomboy through Savage Basin.
- Wikipedia ranks Imogene as the second-highest vehicle crossing in Colorado.
- In 1904, during a miners' strike, a Colorado National Guard unit built a sentry post called Fort Peabody above the pass to keep union men out of San Miguel County.
- Fort Peabody was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.
- A 17-mile foot race runs over the pass from Ouray to Telluride each year on the first Saturday after Labor Day.